[Deb Jeffery]

In our historic farmhouse(1860), the original finish on the trim was faux graining. some of the trim was painted over with latex paint. suspect the original finish is oil, as the latex layer is somewhat fragile (even painting tape removes a lot of it). Is there a way to remove this to expose and not harm the original finish?

 

[jsheridan]

Tape. If blue painters tape removes it, think of what masking or duct tape would do for you. It may sound tedious, but it's clean and less involved than stripping, which would upset the finish you're trying to preserve. If you have any stubborn areas, try a heat gun or hot blow dryer over the tape and then pull.